Linda ImmediatoSummer Strummer
A funny thing happened on the way to Summer Strummer on Sunday night…. Lina Lecaro's baby shower was the baby shower of the year. And this proves it: My plus one got to the show before me and was denied entry, he complained saying he couldn't reach me since I was at a baby shower. “Oh, is she at Lina Lecaro's baby shower? I wanted to go to that!” exclaimed the chick at will call, who then let him right in… I arrived later to find that the festival was a bit of a non-event. At least by the time I got there, crowds had thinned to a mall show level low. And we hopped from one stage to another, but the Bergamot Station parking lot where it was held was so small, the Coachella like exodus after each set felt a little ridiculous. Highlights for me included checking out the chick ahead of me at will call, cute shoes, cute dress, cute hair, only to discover I had been giving the once over again and again to Susanna Hoffs, I probably came off like some Bangle-starved fan, it was very uncool, I also had the good fortune of catching (actually picking up off the floor) the guitar player from Bangkok Five's pick, which he had tossed at us. My friend Sarah and I saw it assailing through the crowd landing on the asphalt between us. Neither one of us really wanted it, but I picked it up to save the fellas feelings. Bangkok Five sort of rocked, the lead singer's posturing a la Mick Jagger and bug eyed expressions got us riled up a bit, but then it was on to see the Donnas. I spent the entire set trying to decide which Donna I'd go for, in the end my friend Steve and I decided on the guitarist. But there is a Belinda Carlyle charm to the lead singer that's so fetching. My friend Sarah was all for the drummer. But it was unanimous the bass player has to go. Not cause she's dowdy, but because she's sour, I'd be having a great time rocking out and I'd look over at the bass player and she'd just bring me down. She looked like she'd rather be somewhere else. In any case, I was battling an extreme bout of hair envy. My thought of thir wavy thick virgin hair were interrupted by my friend Sarah's observation— these girls could be selling out and selling their bodies through their music, oversexualizing themselves to get radio play, but they don't. They just came here to rock, like old school rock, you can't have their bodies, they won't even let you think it for a second, but they'll spoon feed you their music. I want their hair. The Donnas finished up just in time for us to catch the last Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs duet. It was so soft and lulling but I was distracted by how fat Matthew Sweet has gotten. The quiet rambling was finally put to rest as we walked the final foot shuffling walk over to see rawk-ous Kinky take the stage. Within a few minutes we were hooked. We danced like possessed people in a trance to the rock, dance, latin beats. We loved the funky accordian, and the Freddie Mercury meets Cheech dude who came out and danced his skinny hippy ass off across the stage. I wanted mas y mas!!
(note) We hear Kinky is set to tour the Northwest with Gram Rabbit in early October, which is perfect, two desert bands, double the rock-electronic-funk. I'm sure that will be a good time. Look out for LA dates…
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.